Guardian of Guardians
by Halogien
Summary: When Guardian was brought back to life, instead of being able to escape, he was captured by the Fallen. This was the begining of how he came into his destiny of being the Guardian of the Guardians, the last line of defense to defending the Traveler. A retelling of the canon storyline (Picture is Destiny concept art).
1. Prologue

[So welcome to a new story. This will also be added to AO3 when I have it finalized a little more. Just FYI, I'm not a Lore Master, maybe a self practicing apprentice. You may need to refrence something. My goal is to make you fall in love with this world just as much as me. Foresaken has taught all of us that Destiny can be a rather bleak story. This one will be the same, but I want it to end in a good place. Maybe some romance (potential slash?). Who knows? I am going along with this ride with you.]

Our first trip to Mars let us know that we were not alone. The Traveler had been out there this whole time. Watching, waiting, maybe even predicting Humanity's arrival to the last corner of the Universe where the Darkness could not touch personally. The big ball in the sky never really spoke directly about it to us. Either way since then, our race expanded into other worlds and knew _our Destiny was to travel the stars_. The Golden Age of knowledge and technology and discovery insured. Our lifespan expanded. We bloomed under the peace of the light.

No one knows for sure, but it seemed that some knew that where there is light, there is darkness. With the Traveler, we can now see that an enemy was just waiting as well. In its pitch-black cover, the Darkness attacked and the Traveler's people were decimated. The Traveler with its last strength, gave hope and a way to fight. It created Ghosts to revive the dead as its sword and shield in the last unconquered Universe. With its silence and the creation of guiding lights in its place, many came to hate the Guardians. The end of that era and the beginning of a new age to come.

The Eliksni people craved the Light and became pirates and were now called Fallen following a series of events. The crawled the skeletons of Humanities past and made tries to take Humanities' last city and with it a spot under the Traveler that had fled them for some unknown reason Eons ago. The influence of the Dark is a terrible thing and nothing shows it more than the former noble race of the Eliksni.

But this particular Guardian's story began in the remains of an old space station. Cars littering the area, piled on broken decaying highways. Rusting red browns from exposure to the elements underneath a copper and blue sky. Cold and barren with snow on the ground and few trees to provide shelter. Remnants of the Golden Age of humanity. The frozen picture of a race attempting to flee the death of its own potential demise. From it, the strongest and luckiest crawled out, the Traveler's last act brought back those worthy enough. It isn't almighty and mistakes were made by those very Ghosts.

A piece of the Traveler's light and human technology, a ghost wandered the area. A floating wisp of silver components shaped like a diamond, complex and simple, with a small vibrant and expressive blue eye. The little guy hovered and weaved around. Searching. Occasionally releasing a small blue scanning beams as it evaluated that specific area. Frantic it felt the energy from Fallen approaching. The scavengers of this time were on a mission and it didn't know for what, but they had been following for miles. It twirled the back of its body in an imitation of agitation.

The Ghost knew that if it did not find what he was looking for, then it would have to leave and wait until the tides of enemies died down before trying again. Ghost had lost count of how many times it had been forced to hide out. He had gone long years without companionship. The night was falling too. He allowed a few sounds to exit its speakers as it passed yet another 'no'. A skeleton of a human being, but its consciousness of its old wearer did not resonate with the light within. Nor did it have a good vibe. Sometimes, ghosts would revive the first ones with light. It had seen many Guardians go mad or traitor to the cause.

Maybe just, maybe its wouldn't and they would have decades or centuries together. This little piece of the Traveler was broken compared to others who had found their companions quickly or swiftly. It watched with self-pity as they thrived and became names and legends as they were so few already. It felt like a failure and that was becoming a common thought.

The echoes of the grudged fallen with their multiple arms and distinct red armor bounced off the compartments of the rustic cars. The recognizable mouth and breathing apparatus of the captain cause more fear than anything as it snarled in its garbled language. Scratchy and guttural.

"Is it possible?" The bot's voice called out to no one. It was one that displayed caution in potential false hope after so many false leads. This one _sang_ with its light in a way no other had. It allowed itself to expand his energy core and expose its fragile inner light. It was not perfectly round, but had dents and roughness. Life with a weak Traveler had been rough and hard, but maybe he was not broken as it feared. "There you are." After all this time Ghost had found what it was looking for and saw the body materialize. It dressed its charge with the bundle of clothing that he had store inside. He was perfect in its eye.

It was not alone anymore.


	2. Chapter One: Capture

[So, the last chapter was from Ghost's point of view this one won't and most of the chapters will be from Guardian's prospective. His thought style, for lack of better words, is mostly reflective and scattered. I wanted the writing to show that. This also comes with a trigger warning, I try to be safe with my writing but trauma does happen. I am sorry.

Also know the capitalized "Ghost" is when the guardian's ghost is talked about or included. If it's about other's ghosts except for his are talked about it is "ghost", lowercase. I do this so you can understand whom I am speaking about. My guardian won't have a name for a long time for a reason. I will try to explain the best I can. I will try to not stray much from the cannon event, but Forsaken has me tempted to go AU.]

"Eyes up guardian, run. They are here!"

Those were the first words he heard in this new life.

 _Guardian! GUARDIAN!_

His first breathe had been in pain. His little light in the darkness had been interrupted mid revival leaving him missing vital things. He could feel their mental bond. He knew that mental powers came naturally to him, but not how. He could feel the little light at the back of his mind struggling to reach him as well as love he had known all these seconds he had been alive. Like a child he huddled it close.

Soon they had both been captured despite his uncoordinated struggles and his little light's mental screams to run and escape. The little voice that had been with him was caged and he was dragged and shackled in pain to a wall. He was mockingly crucified and collared. These walls had seen other victims and it was something he knew he would remember forever.

The months after were agonizingly long and the weeks blended together. His little light could only do so much. Their link had been stretched so thin yet so close and far. They had never been allowed to touch, so their minds were longing to be formally united. He could not remember anyone except for his Ghost being there and their prison guards that always came with no relief of death, at least not the permanent kind. He could not remember days where he did not hear the harsh guttural sounds of the foreign language or the occasional screams from his companion. His little light spoke of everything from planets to people to history when his mind was fevered and his body heavy.

It also spoke of remorse that it could not bring him to safety after being captured, of find a ship to escape, or the fact that made he was broken for taking so long and failing so bad. Even despite this the Light, or Ghost, taught him the history since the Golden Age, the mechanics of the politics of the Tower, how the Eliksni fell from grace, and also about his newly made Awoken race when he remembered having normal human skin and the pain of being melded into something new.

Despite it all, he grew weary of the Tower and its people. Ghost knew this and did not push when it also knew why. After all, some of the Fallen creatures that captured them stated repeatedly that the source of information that lead to his captivity was given by a traitor in the ranks that sided with them for glory and fame. In return, his Ghost also grew cautious and fearful of returning to his home, even if it meant not being in the warmth and love of the Traveler's sleeping sphere. Without its slumbering shadow, his Ghost was growing noticeably weaker. It had told him that it wasn't as bad as being around the Hive or mythical taken, but it could slowly terminate him. He knew as a result that they would have to escape one day soon and be forced to survive in the wild. Without much knowledge of this world they may die out there too; anything was better than these cold, damp, and dark walls even the cold snowy banks of barren cliffs.

His indigo skin glossed with fevered sweat and sticky with the constantly pouring blood that ran down from his arm. They had decided to experiment with blood loss repair lately. From the little he knew, they were seeking to see if they could replicate the little light's ability to animate blood regeneration. He lamented that his ghost would be forced to heal him for the fifth time today. They were growing more adventurous with their 'studies' and he knew that he may not live to see freedom if it kept escalating. They were starting to attack his Ghost.

The Kell and the leader of this House of fallen must be a sadistic individual. Not only had the leader tortured him like a child swinging a pet by its neck, but he had heard many dregs whisper of docking. He had been witnessed to one, when a dreg came to give him water. Something that the poor thing had not known not to do. He had been strung up by two of his arms and then they took the other two. They were capped with metal and told not to regrow them. He heard how that dreg had ran away, but had been killed by another House of Fallen when they couldn't tell he was an outcast of the House of Devils. Fallen scent, his Ghost told him, was a hard thing to change.

 _My Guardian_ , his little one said into his mind, bringing him back from the fevered wandering of his thoughts, as the electric fence like walls of its portable cell prevented it from touching him. Scorch marks indicated where it had tried to. _I am sorry I have failed you._ It said in self-loathing as its warm blue tinted beam reached out and tried to heal his consistently broken body. Blood loss was tough as he was not near death. Taking longer. The Fallen scientist hummed in interested of this fact.

He long ago stopped talking after the 3rd time his vocal cords were torn out. It angered the jailers to hear the same language that led to the death of many of their own race. They made it their job to make him scream to replace his 'chatter'. He doubted if even leaving this place would allow him to speak freely as it made his heart drop with fear at any sound he made. His chilled mind wandered into a flashback. He could almost feel the knife of a vandal digging into his throat.

 _You have failed no one, my guiding light._ He responded back down their link as his heart beat harder to try to circulate the remaining blood in his empty veins. He had been collared since day one to prevent any backlash of unknown powers and shackled up by his arms. His legs shackled together and bolted to the ground. Crucified.

 _By the will of Traveler, I will be free. We will make it out, Ghost._ _We will take revenge where we can. I will grow stronger and so will you._ He vowed. The light of its eye blinked in silent agreement and the electrical hum of its body soothing him as the scientific personnel screeched in outrage at his Ghost's failure.

That's when he felt himself die again and the agony from his Ghost who had not avoided being stabbed manage to whisper silently to their link, yet again with words he had grown accustomed to.

 _Guardian down._

His last view of was of the tiled ground and its murky brown puddles mixed with red. He just his Ghost made it alive or if they didn't that in death they would see the sun and breathe air not tingled with rot and decay.


	3. Chapter Two: Coincidental Escape

[Hey guys! I'm so excited about this chapter and sorry about the notification of chapters, Fanfic was beeing a pain to post. I know this chapter will have a lot to take in. I can only explain the Lore so much without it being the main focus of the story, but know that there are resources out there, especially YouTube! This story is extremely immersive and I try to become one with my characters and I hope this will allow you to as well. Just know, I'm terrible at replying sometimes but I'll try to answer as much as I can. Stay safe, Guardians.] 

He awoke and knew the Fallen were going to sleep and beginning their nightly patrol. Bitterly, he knew that he should be awake, so he would be likely to sleep while they debated what to do next. It reduced his anxiety and allowed him to build a barrio between him and pulsing agony of their tests. He tried to take a load off his shoulders by forced himself wobbling on to his feet despite the awkward shackles rubbing on his scars and his weak state. He longed for meat, fresh vegetables, and a fruit from the original home planet of his people. He couldn't remember how it looked or what it was called, but recalled its sweet nectar and thick pungent smell. They had been forcing him to survive off of canned human food and crushed foreign worms since his rebirth. He had no clue if food could actually taste the way he thought it was. His stomach growled and so did his Ghost in his mind. He soothed the little vengeful being by wrapping his mind by flooding around their link in a weak imitation of a hug.

Being Awoken, his mind had strong telepathic abilities was a result of something he could not remember very clearly and from what Ghost had told him, it was a result of meeting the Light and Darkness as well as being pushed into a pocket dimension. He had been a teenage child of a couple who turned their backs to the Traveler. Their entire ship had fled Earth and the coming Darkness. They were people of personal gain looking back on it now, survival and elitism ran rampant on the ship. From the dimension they had been pushed into, he left the civil dispute back to their solar system of their ancestors after so many decades after what humans called the Collapse. He had followed Queen Mara Sov when she had separated from the others and helped create the Reef.

He remembered coming to Earth on their first expedition. He had been on the front lines of the war with the House of Devils of that time. He had died here.

He had awoken from that memory days ago and felt peace in knowing the war had been won. That if rumors were true, his Queen lived. He had served his purpose and now he had another calling. He had a duty now to his ancestors' people and one half of the being that contributed to his creation from his former flesh. He did not remember much of his personal life anyways. He could not tell his own name or the name of anyone outside of his Queen's name. It was all a blur.

He learned some words of Fallen during his time here. Eliksni was easy when the beings had such strong emotions to tie to their meanings. Sadly, the collar could not eliminate the satisfaction that rolled off the beings during their sessions or the repressed emotions of despair from the dregs, vandals, and captains. There was no way for him to secure their loyalty. They needed Ether to breathe and eat. Only a servitor had the ability to make any and it was controlled by the Kell and down the food chain. He had no way of saving any of them.

He flinched as the boom of the door becoming unlocked echoed in the room. Odd seeing to how it wasn't time for them to have fun with him. It was the click of various kinds locks around the building that echoed down the hall and the four-armed creatures within the area screeched in outrage, rampaging in one direction that clued him in on this being an odd situation. He grunted as the shackles opened suddenly as well. He bit his lip as his muscles protest having to support his light weight after so long. He gasped as his shoulders popped into place painfully. The collar fell soon after to the ground with a satisfying clunk. He allowed his legs to fold and crawled to where his ghost was hanging by the wall like some morbid lantern and anxiously twirling its small space. He brought down the chain holding the electrically enforced cage. He quickly called a humming power to his hands. He felt it cackle lightly as the power thrummed through his fingers and bones. Lightning lingered at his tips.

 _Guardi-_

He pulled the beaming bars apart and felt his skin burn from the contact, but not cutting his fingers off. He felt the shell of his Ghost pass through his hands and quickly let go to clench his hands to his chest. He felt satisfaction as his little Light was free from that stupid. One that he remembered those creatures casually throwing around.

He cradled for the first time his Ghost as the blue light emitted tried to heal his hands. It had been forced to float this whole time and bare to be far from the Traveler. He fingered the burns and groves of where his little light had first tried to escape his own cage only to be scratched and seared. The indents that had been carved when they had to force the Ghost to do something and stabbed into as punishment. He felt his ghost pour everything it could spare to help his weakened muscles. They had to keep what they could just in case he needed more healing or another revival.

They needed to escape. Now.

 _Guardian!_ The silver shelled being shouted in his mind as it focused on something. _Something, I think another Ghost opened everything. I don't know why, but every door has been opened and they hacked into the place. This is our chance!_

He nodded and got to his feet and swayed as the uneven withering floor of the old structure caused him to lose his balance and crash into the wall. He, for a moment, thought that he had forgotten how to walk, let alone run. He ignored how some of the muck from the walls clung to his bare, torn pants and gripped it. For the first time in so long, he was leaving his cell on his own terms. He made it down the hall and hid behind red round boxes with orange light for cover. His Ghost cradled as he listened to the directions it whispered in his mind. Both of them fearing to make any noise in the radius of sensitive Fallen ears and, Traveler forbid, their noses. The farther they made it, the more confident he grew.

"Klesfreha E Zer!" The fallen shouted down the hall. That was his name among them. It gave him fear as the captain ran by his shadowed spot, ordering his re-capture.

He felt his little light shiver as the captain and his crew passed out the room to where they were hidding. It looks like this captain may be the new leader of the area of the House of Devils.

He saw something on the floor and his ghost whirred ever softly. _That gun_ , it's a Guardian weapon. _Take it!_ It turned its blue eye to the corner of the now empty warehouse floor. _See those boxes and that large crack in the roof? Use it to crawl out the top. You can escape through the top._

He strapped the gun around his body with the black old wire he found on the ground. It was empty, but something was better than nothing. He ignored the pain as the fresh skin on his hands throbbed and the scars on his wrist tightened. His body creaked with misuse.

 _I am sorry I had to heal those that way._ The ghost apologized that way once again.

 _It was the best way to keep from it being easily torn open again._ He replied as he remembered how the skin had to be repaired multiple times before his Ghost made a decision to allow it to scar. He had other scars from when they command it to heal naturally so to have a 'controlled' rate to compare to.

The scar tissue on his wrist specifically allowed for his pain tolerance to increase. The shackles had become one less thing to worry about. He shivered as he felt the cold winter air hit his bare chest. He had only torn pants that he had been revived in to keep him warm outside the overly warm air of his cell. As he snuck his way above the rafters, trying to prevent noise. He struck a conversation as a habit he had developed to prevent stray thoughts when the war cries of his former hosts echoed. His weak Ghost snuggled in his hand while the other cradled the empty gun.

 _What was the lightning in my hands, Ghost?_

 _That was your light abilities, Guardian. Powers granted by the Traveler. Soon we will be able to train it and see what class you fall in. That is at least something I can do . . . now that I am no longer trapped by that box._ His Ghost educated softly. He was about to ask the machine where they were when it answered. _We are in Russia ruins within a place guardian call the Cosmodrome deep in the European Dead Zone. The place where humanity made one last attempt to flee before falling to ruins when the ship had no time to take off. Hundreds of thousands died here before your arrival back to Earth from the Reef._

 _Where are we supposed to go now?_ He asked as he ducked behind an old air conditioning unit. He ignored how the cold metal made his goose bumps worse and near a painful state. He could only see ruins and the forest was far off. Beyond that.

 _Heading in the direction of the Last City. We need to heal and even if we are not in the glory of the Traveler, being around it will help me and you recover. First. Go there to the green light. In these boxes, the Vanguard have ordered them to be filled with items. This one is gold. It may hold armor or weapons. Getting down there will be tricky though._ He cradled his Ghost close as he saw a path to the crate.

He nodded and prepped himself as he jumped down to a rusting balcony where the little chest hummed louder as he got closer. He bit his lip as he landed and twisted his ankle. He ignored it as warmth crawled around it and opened the chest. The blue jewels disappeared and he remembered how his Ghost had told him about the currency in this new world. How it can be stored within a pocket controlled by his companion.

 _Be careful_ , his little light warned as he continued to heal the ankle.

He smiled at the floating AI. Inside he found some sort of armor and hurried to put it on as he put the empty sniper rifle down. The sleeves seemed to radiate warmth as he felt some familiar light connect with his. The box then disappeared. He grew disappointed there were no boots or arm guards, but something was better than nothing and he wasn't about to complain.

Making his way through the buildings, he had found a jagged piece of metal to fashion into a dagger as he tore some of his worn pants to wrap around the end to avoid cutting himself.

 _This is it, past these trees and we are on our own, Guardian._ His Ghost said with hidden happiness only to gasp when he felt a dreg patrol around. He knew there was no other way. He had to make it quick. He had no ammo and just one jagged piece of metal for a knife. He had snatched it off a unit box on the roof. He let his merciless anger flow be conducted into the metal.

He leaped down and struck the poor dreg in the neck before rolling away and shakily running to freedom as the gurgles simmered behind him. He let the crackling phase out and felt his Ghost squeak out in excitement.

 _My guardian is a Hunter!_ He saw the little thing twirl in pride around him.

As soon as they had run enough to ignore the outraged cries of the Fallen in the distance. He leaned against the dense tree and gasped some air before his ghost floated wobbly from his sweat hands and dropped something in them. A pack of ammo and some boots and armored pants. Simple, but warm.

 _How?_

 _When an enemy is killed. I can use my light to fashion it into something. It is random unfortunately. Don't worry, I have enough in me to keep your feet and hands warm for a while._ It whispered as he put on the pants, ignoring the cuts that could be healed later.

He began walking. Confident that he now had another weapon than a clumsy knife and more armor. Soon he would have gloves and more weapons.

 _A hood to help conduct light!_ His ghost contributed. He agreed as well. He needed all the help he could get.

[One of the largest chapters for a reason. Hope you enjoyed!]


	4. Chapter Three: Wilderness for the Hunter

[This will set the tone for how the chapters will go. Sometimes small, but with a lot going on. This has to be one of my favorite characters. Ghost comes in close as it grows more confident in itself.]

He cradled his ghost in his hands before him, giving it an eskimo kiss. His little one chirped softly and it nudged clumsy back with the corner of its top panel. They had a lot of time to perfect what he knew would become habit. For now, he made sure to keep his eye on his companion's failing health. He had tried to buff out what scratches and dents he could from the little one's shell, but he knew there was only so much that could be done without some sort of clay.

They had walked through snow for hours. Desperate to place miles between them and their past. They came across as similar sound. It had a soft melody, enough to make him pause. He looked at his hands and the diamond creature within them.

 _That's spinmetal. Valuable on earth. It can be used to make weapons. It is worth a good amount of glimmer. We should grab it. Some human colonies outside of the City may trade it. They use it to sell to the City before it became too dangerous with the fallen group growing on Earth._ Once they were close enough it disappeared and the Ghost confirmed that he had it stored when he nodded at it.

Water, food, shelter. That's what they needed now. Searching for these things could wait, he reasoned in his mind.

 _Ghost?_ He prompted.

 _Head a little to the east area. I remember there being a small city that was abandoned by both Fallen and Vanguard for being too costly to maintain. It holds a few church buildings and old lab._ His Ghost advised. _It's by a river, as well that hasn't been contaminated, at least when it was last tested a few years back. The daily guardian tournament, Crucible, is held on a portion of the city occasionally, the rest is left to rot as it became too much for Lord Shaxx's Redjacks to manage._

They had been held by the fallen Eliksni for over four months and it showed even after so many days after. His wrists ached in the cold as his scarred areas throbbed. He was malnourished enough that the smallest of armor seemed large on him. He would break bones easily if evident by the amount of times he had to be healed from a simple jump. Many times, he would find himself making grunting fallen sounds when he found himself missing sounds or in response to something his Ghost would say. That's all he had known since resurrection after all. His Ghost made more noise after realizing that when they were alone and safe.

The silence also led to him finding fights with enemies and larger prey along the way as his inner hunter wanted a challenge or to explore. He was a guardian meant to fight and defend. Those were needs that he fulfilled by slowly learning on his own. He began with rodents and was now able to bring down native yaks in the area with his hands. His Ghost boast that he was like the Takanome Rangers of old that used to lead people to the Last City where the Titans had begun to build a city and Warlocks store their knowledge.

His ghost often joked that he was a natural and he would respond that maybe he was a guardian before. His little light turned pensive at that. He felt that was a thought best left to investigate later.

* * *

They had stayed in that old city for many days as he healed before using it as a base of sorts. He had hidden cache of possessions buried or hidden around the EDZ. They had memories here. He had fallen into a fever last week and his Ghost could do nothing but gather its strength to assist occasionally with his temperature and aches. He once died inside their camp after eating poisoned Juniper berries during a time of desperation when he could not hunt.

His little companion was weak, but growing stronger as they wandered more and more closer to the City each time they went out. They also craved both physical touch and he found himself with a constant partner on the inside of his collar of his makeshift cloak they nabbed from another treasure chest a few days back. He had made it from his first armor. He had sewed in, with chunky salvaged rope, a yak fur top portion near the hood for warmth in the EDZ weather. It felt like a familiar action and he shrugged it off, his past life was also full of scavenging.

As they gained more kills, it became more obvious Ghost was taught to fight from the sidelines.

Never as a participant in the fight for humanity and light's survival.

His Ghost learned to move things to in the way or turn on the lights bright. It closed doors and left bombs to be activated. The AI robotic beings were treated more like a storage and a portable hacking device than a partnership to him. His little light made other Ghost shiver in fear. His Ghost acted out and made its own decisions, making mistakes, and success all along the way with him by its side. It was no backseat passenger but a partner in every sense.

Never was it taught about survival. From what he learned observing and from his 'history' lessons, ghost and guardians were reliant on supply drops and 'reliable' information from the Tower.

Without communicating with the servers, Ghost could only rely on what it had already known. So, they found out via trial and error. Like what berries to eat and which ones killed you. They didn't stay in one place and always travelled by twilight. They had to work out where they were by the language on Golden Age billboards and landmarks. His Light in this dark world was a survivor that thrived in the openness with him. Something the little guy never knew before. They had a feeling that they were to bring something refreshing to the Tower whenever they came around to entering populated areas.

They became known as well and they heard about themselves as other ghosts whispered about his Ghost. He had unintentionally become some role model after many witnesses their fights together, mostly outlandish hunters. Often his Ghost would fly under enemies and leave exploding devices before fading away. No one had managed to catch his Ghost as it learned to become craftier since its capture at the beginning of his new life. Whispers of "the savage Guardian and his lost ghost" echoed. Less harsh than the "traitor" insults that tapered off with the more lives they saved. They had patched themselves up and survived without the Tower. He even managed to find out how to make a form of clay to cover the scars on his Ghost as well as how to dye items and such with pigments from flowers and berries. Many thought it was the blood of his enemies oddly enough when they saw his helmet with a single strip on his right eye on his helmet, the side he sniped with. Guardians seemed to be prepensely complexing.

Now they made it over the Swiss mountains and soon they would begin to move some things from their hiding location in the abandoned city here. They could see the outline of the Traveler in the sky from a distance and feel its glorious energy. He nodded at the floating dormant sphere as his Ghost bobbed around him with the most energy he had seen in months.

When they made their way back after deciding which cave to claim to the EDZ area, they could see a faint trail of smoke miles up ahead in an un-scouted area, hidden by endless forest trees. A location he had yet to explore. He approached with caution. His hands off his weapons to seem non-threatening. A falcon cawed nearby and he eyed it with suspicion. It had been following them for a while now. He felt the curious emotion emit from nearby. He made sure to leave no tracks when he left.

[Edited: 10/04/2018]


	5. Chapter Four: The Farm

They left after that first visit. Every time they would get closer. Now he was close enough to the edge of the tree line to see the buildings and an entrance gate used to keep animals from wandering. He came by more frequently, building up the nerve to have his first talk more than a few second in length. Footsteps echoed in the area and he knew today would be the day. He felt protected with his weapons as he was planning to hunt after this. A woman stood before him and eyed him.

He had fashioned a bladed staff to fish with, worn down rifle, and a few makeshift knives in his belt made of spinmetal. His hair was messy and long, whiter than grey from the sun constantly warming it. His armor had holes and blast marks, patched harshly. He had a yak pelt on his shoulders for warmth as the weather was still harsh this high in elevation by the Last City.

"So, what's a guardian like you doing out here, looking like that?" A woman shifted out of the woods with a blue and red poncho. She had darker human skin and star tattoos circling her facial features. "Well, are you going to answer?"

He looked to his Ghost, who went forward.

"We are not of the tower." It creaked in a deeply robotic voice that end with a customary crackle of electronic creaking. One that he hadn't heard for a long time as it sounded almost like a threat from his Ghost to his ears. What a vicious partner he had. In return he mentally probed their bond in reprimand and the floating being twirled its back body in acknowledgement.

"Then who are you?" The woman prompted. She had a sniper rifle on her back among other items. She had fresh kill off her belt.

"It's a long story, but we mean no harm. We wish to trade." The Ghost stated only to vanish into him when the falcon dropped down too close and on to the Woman's gloved arm. He brought a hand up to reassure his fearful Ghost where it had melded into his chest piece.

"The name's Hawthorne." The woman simply said, "And I have all the time in the world, but I can see I won't be getting anything out of you, Guardian. What do you wish to trade and for what?" She had good reasons to be suspicious of them as they tended to show up unannounced and observe the area.

 _She is the leader, I believe._ His little one whirled sound and materialized the predetermined spinmetal.

She calmed her falcon as she let her large eyes take in the amount of metal, about 50 pounds of it. One fifth of what he had. He had no use of it as he wasn't a smith of any kind.

"So, Guardian. Do you not talk?" She demanded as she let her falcon fly off while she evaluated the metal. Testing its weight and bendability.

"Long story short. We were held captive by the Fallen for months. Apparently, there is a spy in the Lost City." He agreed with having his Ghost let out that small nugget of information to facilitate a give and take thought process with the woman. "Talking was not encouraged." The Ghost whispered as it made its unconscious view of the surrounding area just in case.

She tilted her head and I knew that the 'olive branch' was taken.

"Very well. This will help us buy stuff for the place, so I will help you. I'll give you some armor and knives, Hunter." She stated firmly. She shifted from leg to leg as she picked up and adjusted the bag. "Not the best, but definitely better than the patch work you got goin'."

He nodded and looked to his Ghost.

 _Yes, sir._ Ghost responded. "We will wait here." He stated to Hawthorne, leader of this farm and its people.

The woman turned her head to the side before sighing. She nodded.

"I don't blame you. I'll be back." She stated before turning with the spinmetal one her back.

He ignored how he felt himself sweat a bit. He acknowledged that being around others made his skin crawl. His ghost agreed. They knew that they were stronger now, but his mind liked to play tricks when it came to his paranoia sometimes. He was an Awoken guardian among the humans he was protecting. He felt at a disadvantage here. There were no Awoken or Exo and humans tended to be rather 'fragile'.

He flipped a makeshift knife in his hands to make the time pass by as his little light snuggled by his neck. Occasionally he would resonate some light into the jagged metal. A piece of spinmetal he managed to break, before he decided that it took too much work to try to make something of it other than knives without intense heat of a furnace.

"Guardian." Hawthorne demanded his attention when she returned. He almost felt like falling into a salute. She had a large bag made of barley in her hands. It was rather large. A top was a belt with loops filled real knives. She went to approach, but he backed away and swallowed the small fear as his hand trembled with the makeshift knife. He knew that this would be an issue, but he had only come to trade, nothing more. She hummed and nodded before slowly placing the bag on the ground. She stepped back with her hands raised. She than carefully took out a knife of her own and scarred the tree with a quick 'X'.

"Under this tree, you can leave your stash. Come the next day and I will have stuff for you. If you want something particular, leave a note or tell me. It'll take a while, but I can find it for the right price. Maybe in time we can have drinks together, Guardian." She told them and he knew that she was doing it for his benefit. "Just know, I won't hide my words if someone asks for the source of my loot. I don't seek enemies on any sides when it comes to the Last city of humanity." He hesitatingly nodded and waited for her to leave before taking the bag.

He ran as hard that day as he had when they had escaped. He later made it to the mountains and into the cliffs that surrounded the city. There he had his cave that he had fashioned into a make shift home. It was close enough that the Traveler was the size of the tip of his thumb away and hoped that one good day he would be able sit in the entrance and bask in feeling of being close to home. For now, he resisted the urge to regurgitate his last meal.


	6. Chapter Five: Time Passing

It was close to a year since his escape.

He now wore proper Guardian armor, but he kept his handmade cloak that he had labored over the weeks. He had poured Light into it for a week straight so that it would boost his abilities, even using an extremely rare legendary shard he had found. A hunter's pride was his cloak and if the 'handbook' is to be believed, something to check above his own injuries. He had a variety of weapons at his disposal and had them stored all over the place. He carried a sword after watching a Warlock use one. His ghost insisted on it as the sheer power that impressed them both. Especially as he was a BladeDancer. He had left a good chunk of glimmer and spinmetal for it with Hawthorne. He knew that what he left was three times the amount needed to purchase it but Hawthorne had a ship to repair for the farm from what he could spy and she would have to go through trouble to get a Guardian restricted weapon. He provided enough spinmetal when he could for fuel of the machine, but a repair? He knew that the leader of this ragtag group of humans hated charity.

The locals at the farm called him Guest Ghost for a while now and had in time given him a Sparrow adorn with muted colors and a sleek body as a gift. They had directed him to other farms in time of needs. Ones that he also watched over when the Fallen started getting bold.

Yesterday, he had been thanked for defeating some ambitious Fallen clan that was looking to sneak into the Tower and through it to the Last City via the merchants entrance. He swiftly ended their plans. Most likely the Vanguard would have had no one idea, let alone anyone to spare, until it was too late. The last war eliminated most of their numbers from all sides (Fallen, Hive, Awoken, Iron Lords, Human Warlords, and the City) and the Guardians were barely climbing in number as more ghosts found their partners.

Hawthorne left a note with her falcon once stating that she had been summoned to the Vanguard about her slight increase in her possession of the strange blue metal and rumors of her answers. Especially after he had saved a few guardians from death.

He kept a good eye on the particularly evil House of Devils groups that were personally headed by the Kell and his mad 'scientist'. He did once he heard Hawthorne gossiping about a new wave of attacks or plans to take a certain location in the Cosmodrome. He would then show up after a few hours of travel via sparrow to the area and helped from the shadows. Afterwards, he would reveal tidbits of information back to the Tower via openly accessible routes in technology or leaving them attached to chests from the Vanguard.

She had told the City and guardian leaders about him when asked. She simply refused to set up captures or push him to join the ranks. She instead passed along notes and sometimes gifts of sorts from the Vanguard, who had guessed he was a Hunter. Mostly notes of thanks with some glimmer or the occasional supply of rations. Once he received the 'handbook' of sorts from the Hunter Vanguard. He was still unclear if it was a joke or serious, he assumed both. The Vanguard was too busy to mess with him after all as he wasn't a threat. He did hear about a strike on the base he was held in and knew it was due to that he was being left alone. Since then any attempts to find him ceased, maybe they knew what had happened to him. Vanguard was not aware of the spy in their midst however. He knew that if he, she, it was still out there then he had no need to join the Tower.

He still didn't talk, but he did once in a while by 'his' tree set up tea for company. Freshly dried and prepared from one of the herbs books he had been given. Today, he was looking purely for company and his Ghost had called out to the Falcon, who passed on the message. Hawthorne appeared in her armed glory. She was a fair leader, yet she found time to have talks and tea with him every time he came by.

"They have named you up there in the tower." Hawthorne stated before sitting on the ground. Her clothing and weapons looking clean and fresher than the first day he spied on them. The farm looked better patched up and it seemed as if they were smart in using their new-found income. They invested in larger lands and made more equipment to maintain the threat down and things in top shape. They were storing his spinmetal now. He kept supplying it either way as it wasn't a hassle to harvest and he loved helping out. His Ghost always said it was the light in him, but the Awoken in him just thought that it was the morals of humanity in him. Things that the Eliksni once had and the former honor of the old Hive tribes of millennias ago. Darkness and Light are two sides of a coin, one tainted by the race of Darkness much like the other is championed by the Traveler. The Traveler who is a flawed being in itself.

He tilted his head to the side and simply raised his tea in greeting as he sat in traditional seiza stance. Ready as always to pounce.

"The Guardian of Guardians." She smirked as he grimaced.

His Ghost was simply Ghost. He simply went by Guardian, Hunter, and sometimes GG by the people of the farm who would see him zoom by their fields. He never 'conversed' with anyone but Hawthorne. Yet, he knew them and they knew him. There was no need for fancy names when he knew who he was. Much like his old life had little impact on his current life. Yet names still followed him.

"A lot of G's when it comes to you, huh? Is this juniper berry tea?" She stated excited as she drank it.

He nodded and handed over a tin of it. Hawthorne loved tea and she also loved to trade it within her community as a sort of high commodity. He humored her with tins of it. He always remembered to make sure which were safe to consume and which to poison his knives with.

She grabbed it with a grateful smile as she avoided his fingers grabbing it. He had been helped many times by her and her people. He soaked in her presence as he fondly remembered things.

Once he had gotten stuck in the snow and was freezing to death in the middle of a storm. Fearful his little one raced to the farm. Despite the weather Hawthorne and another civilian saved him. Led him to a small abandoned cabin and heated him up, while touching minimally as he fell into flashbacks. They witnessed his scars and left silently after Ghost told them to never mention them. That was when he had been gifted the Sparrow and leather wristbands for his scars.

He smiled before getting up. He touched a small drawing nailed to the tree. A child of the farm loved to leave them here. He always kept them. He hid it in his thicker than usual cloak. His boots worn enough to make no noise.

"Guardian. Be careful. I hear that the Fallen are making a move, they have taken back _that_ base." She stated. He turned and nodded. As soon as he clears the trees, the sparrow is summoned. He had a feeling to managed to avoid.

Still those scars remained mentally and physically. His own Ghost was silent and prone to staring at the direction of the Traveler. His ghost materialized and snuggled in its customary spot by the left side of his neck. He himself found himself feeling phantom pains and his wrist were stiffer as he remembered things that had happened. They were a fractured pair.

He felt a pulse of warm from his companion and nodded before speeding up. They would find a way to sway things in the Traveler's favor in this battle. The last beings of Light have been cornered. Maybe taking out the leader of that wretched place, once and for all, one step further for his side in this fight against Darkness.

[I was left the most beautiful notes or comments by Clare Prime of Ultra, Safire 19, and others that I did a little happy dance. I will try to post more often. SO hopefully expect more. Take care and eyes up Guardians!]


	7. Chapter Six: Riksis

[So sorry about the wait! It has been a bit of hectic time. I am still here. This story has become such a helpful distraction from shenanigans in my life. I know I stated it might be slash, but this one will stay platonic. I may create a side version of it being differently, but I love imitating what the game represents.] 

He had scouted this area very well in the past few days. The area seemed almost welcoming after so many days here. Not that he counts them anymore.

He made his way up a broken piece of highway that was still standing overlooking some storage areas near the central hanger. He flinched as the sky darken. A walker was going to be dropped. Stupid things were ridiculous. Bulky, slowly but packed a mighty punch. He stepped back and let a few of the young guardians try to defeat it. He saw them die multiple times before one began to be dragged away by a group of Fallen that seemed to be lurking to drag them into the central hanger and soon into the hole in the wall. The one he knew that the higher people in the hierarchy crawled out of. As he observed them through his sniper scope, he saw the familiar collar being prepped to be placed and eventually secured on with a hiss that alarmed further the younger guardian's other teammates into fighting the incoming reinforcements a lot harder.

 _Do you think they seek to restart those experiments, Ghost?_ He straightened up and brought out his Light down into his super ability to crackle down his arms and form the short sword that he was familiar with.

 _The last base we raided yesterday mentioned other ideas they wanted to try out._ His Ghost companion reminded as it scanned from afar the weak points just in case they would be changing their usual habits. Better safer than sorry.

 _We will have to stop them. From what I understand, they are the only ones of the Houses doing this._ He remarked as he tried to cut the legs off only to be successful with one, enough to cause it to do its familiar glitch.

He backed up and leaped driving his blade into the exposed brain of the walker before speeding over to where the young guardian had been collared. He brought down the group around the young guardian and freed him. A fusion sniper bullet missed his head by inches the second his powers fizzed out. He jumped to the side, closer to the young man. He quickly aimed and eliminated the fallen vandal sniper from the top of the building. The kid's fireteam was approaching their young adult warlock from the side where they had been forced to find cover. They were all low in terms of both level and light. New guardians it seemed, barely fives.

 _All enemies down._ His little one informed as the area grew silent. They had cleared the area for now.

He kept his helmet on as most did in combat zones and faced the shellshock group of three.

"Guardians of Guardians." The young fellow whispered as his ghost zoomed around to heal him. The boy looked no more than 17 years old. He tried not to groan at the sound of his moniker.

Ghost immediately began commenting through their bond on how the other ghost healed. Learning something from everything as per usual.

"Young one, these Fallen will take you and use you. Your ghost enslaved. Do not allow anyone to be captured by any Fallen, ever." Ghost warned sternly. He began to walk away. "Tell the Vanguard that today Riksis, the Devil Archon, falls." He heard his vindictive guiding light promise as he made sure to leap well beyond the new guardian's capabilities.

His little light caught up and snuggled in as they retraced their steps from their escape. He ran down silently the hallways and rooms. He assassinated silently all the beings in the way. He climbed into the hole in the wall of the hanger.

They slipped in quietly and made use of all their heavy artillery.

The fight was rough, but not impossible. Soon he acquired a ship that had hung there and with-it a Near Light Speed Drive to allow the old relic to be able travel to other planets. The moment he was lifting off, a group of guardians burst in. He took that as his queue to leave.

He made his way to Hawthorne's farm. He carefully picked up his feet and rolled down his weight to prevent noise as he jumped up the tree up to retrieve his little gift for his little companion that he had asked for a month ago. It had been hidden very well from Ghost for the past few visits. It did not appreciate the secrets on bit, especially now that he wouldn't let Ghost near it.

 _What are you hiding from me, Guardian?_ His little partner grumbled as it tried to scan the bag only to have its top panel be flicked by his index finger in a playful manner. He immediately completely began blocking the eye with his palm when the little bot narrowed its beam on it and twirled its back half of the body behind his palm.

He smiled when the bot snubbed its metaphorical nose in the air. He hugged the burlap bag with a soft snort as he received the silent treatment from the Ghost for the next few seconds as he made his way to a place to summon his sparrow without scaring the locals.

He returned to his cave after hiding his ship in a place among the trees at the bottom of the mountains. It was hidden well by the stealth beacons he placed around its wings to camouflage some of it. He retrieved his important day to day belongings as he planned to transfer the to his ship full time. The cave was not the smartest place to have his 'headquarters' at. He then closed the entrance with the spare stealth cloaking device he snuggled from the Fallen. Now with a ship, he could sleep inside, eat, and once it was fixed well enough, shower inside instead of the cold waterfalls, harsh rivers, and potentially contaminated lakes of Earth.

It was a lonely life, he figured. He only spent time with Hawthorne and the quiet wilderness. His kind, humans, and Exo were all social creatures, but the life of a Hunter was solitary outside of fireteams and other trusted people. Its why they clung to their 'group'. There are many bands of Titan and Warlocks. Hunters have never had one and had loose morals outside of their Code and faith in the Vanguard Hunter who had their best interests in mind.

Being Awoken made him crave telepathic friendship bonds and familial ones. He was getting better, but he only wanted Ghost by his side for now. His only bond that he could think of holding without panic. One day that might change and he would be able to walk among people without sweating, paranoia, fear, or mistrust. For now, things were bearable, but lonely.

 _I will be with you always my Guardian. Whatever you choose. Wherever you go. We are a team._ The silver being chimed in with no remorse as he raised his eyebrow at it for bypassing its own placed silent treatment of him. Seemingly whistling computer sounds while circling its body, he knew the little Ghost was trying to look at the bag. Like a dog with a bone that one.

 _Hey!_ The voice vibrated in his mental link at his thought.

He patted the little light with his index finger as it spun its back body in contentment in his hand before moving away. The little one was fixing the ship's programming and it looked like if it didn't receive answer about the bag it would continue its job.

He was now cleaning his rifles and snipers with actual specialized products for them. Gone were the days of greasing them with animal fat in desperation when nothing else could be found or transmission fluids from the warehouses the Fallen tended to haunt in. He now had enough to buy new servicing kits and specialized upgrades. Some weapons were kept to trade in for materials or food as his weapons were better than most farmers owned out in the wild and worth a pretty penny.

Now he had the new item in his hands from the bag and it was beautiful. It was something he had saved up for as he had drawn specs while Ghost was offline and rebooting. It felt worth it to spoil the very partner that had been with him since day one. It was a hard thing to acquire, but Hawthorne prevailed.

He smiled as his Ghost gasped as it peeked at it and whirred in a small hiccup as he revealed what it was. He cradled his little light and laid the gift on his lap as he smoothed his fingers over the familiar worn and damaged shell. It would be retired and replaced by a similar shell. One for when they were alone and a defensive one for battle. His Ghost was vicious and deserved armor of its own. He had a suspicious the normal one may not be used often or at all, but he wanted to give the option.

 _For you always_ , was the response as he opened the special packaging.

His little Ghost floated around it with awed sounds. He opened it further from the plastic like cover and invited his little one to fit in. The old shell seemed to almost break off, letting him know that it didn't have much use anymore other than for sentimental reasons. This new offensive-defensive shell was black with some extra spikes that he had a feeling may be dipped in some poison for the hell of it. It was capable of finding treasures and was harder to break. His companion spun and it was testing it out. Ghost looked at the other one. A sleeker silver one that seemed similar to his original one, but as bullet proof as it could be made. His little ghost bumped his nose affectionately before dancing away from the following eskimo kiss. He had a feeling that this one would be purely ceremonial with the way his Ghost twittered about in his battle one and ignored the sleek simple one.

 _You love me?_ The little Ghost teased.

 _Of course._ He replied so sure the Ghost paused. _Never doubt that._

He hummed gently before coughing as his throat protested. It was still unused to his more frequent sounds of human nature, but he was a more 'vocal' creature than before. A water bottle appeared before him and he caught it out of habit as it fell. He drank it and smiled as his Ghost seemed embarrassed enough to not look at him, but proud enough to admire itself in the reflection off the metal and glass within the borders of the ship.

He had made a wonderful choice. Now his little light was black enough to hide in shadows without being spotted and deadly enough to defend itself if needed. His Ghost would slowly begin to heal himself from its trauma and with that so would he. He knew that he would soon find himself in the City. He longed to be part of the Last City himself, underneath the shadow of the Traveler, and so close to the light it bestowed its people.

For now. Small steps meant the world to him. 

[One chapter down, many many many more to go!

Also, thank you to every single one of your comments. I try so hard to make it understandable. I reference a lot of YouTube's Byf and Merlin lore masterworks if your interested in checking them out.]


	8. Chapter Seven: Exo

[Time to introduce our favorite commander. I hope you guys enjoy this one. I have been a little backed up with working as well as playing Destiny. I amtrying to finish D1 before I start D2 when I get my XBOX One on Black Friday. So excited!]

It's been a month since the fall of Riksis by their hands. The EDZ still had its daily battles and its regular struggles, but the patrols were becoming more effective in wrestling back Earth from its invaders. Despite the large-scale war of Six Fronts from long ago, it showed that the Last City held firm and its diminished number of guardians held stronger to overcome the odds. Word was a new Kell was making his way there to take over. Apparently, the Captains of the Fallen weren't up to snuff. For now, the House of Devil's, the group of Fallen pirates that invaded Earth, was falling slowly with the disorder and the Vanguard was gearing to strike them while they are down.

He had picked up his new hunting bow from his tree by the farm. His old one had broken in half when he had pulled too hard to reach an elk father in the distance than he normally went for. His Ghost had been forced to heal quite the bruise that day from the recoil of the string. He rubbed his forearm in memory.

 _We will go test it right? I see it has a better scope!_ His Ghost bobbed around as if nothing had happened with the last one and it tried to look through the scope as he tested the friction and adjusted. He had his arrow quiver hooked to his belt. He was ready to go hunting as he needed fresh meat for the week. Bullets were load and attracted the wrong kind of attention.

He bobbed the little light with his cheek to move as he viewed the scope again. He was poked careful with a tip of a panel from Ghost and he retaliated with a small flick which had the ghost bobbing to dodge and land on his helmet that he placed it back on after he was satisfied with the adjustments.

It was a commonly found one, but more powerful. He could only afford so much when Vanguard tried to pry him out by increasing the cost when Hawthorne went in his place. Hawthorne could only acquire so much without suspicion as he had become a pack rat or sorts since that incident. He didn't know if the Vanguard was going to use drastic measures to talk to him. He had begun to leave bundles of stuff in areas that he could reach if he was on the run. His Ghost reassured, as well as the Handbook, that it was a common trait of Hunters to leave 'cashes' and even the Hunter mentor was guilty of this.

Despite this, the helmet he wore was a barrier between him and the outer world that allowed him to sometimes get by and be involved in strikes or patrols without questions. Just another random guardian with a wilder look. His furred cloak didn't help matters. This also made hunting him down extremely difficult as all it would take would be swapping out his cloak and armor. It also had him dodging followers on his personal patrols regularly, mostly Hunters. They knew to expect him on the old rustic graveyard and sometimes on the moon as he tested the waters there with the House of Exiles.

He sighed and summoned his hip quiver. His little partner seemed to swoon in the air. It had a love of playing recon and sneaking to find him a challenge.

A soft patter reached his sensitive Awoken ears.

His Ghost went stiff as it acted normal, but came closer to him in redirecting one of its swaying motions to him.

He had known this would happen eventually. He made his way to the clearing, acting as if he was going to be activating his sparrow. When he felt it. He drew his new bow and arrow. He did not want to alarm the Farm without cause with a loud noise from a guardian weapon.

"Woh woh woh. Hey, I'm not a fan of pointy things pointed at me." The voice joked lightly with the rasping electric sound that followed voices of machines. The man came out with his own ghost, shelled in simple red and white coating. An exo with a blue face and a rather famous horn.

Curious. He hummed mentally.

"Yeah well. We are not a fan of people following us. What do you want Hunter?" Ghost demanded as he moved to make himself a harder target by lightly expanding himself and his offensive/defensive shell.

"Oh, snappy little guy aren't you? Calm, okay? I'm here to talk." The Exo calmly said he seemed nonchalant and put his hands on his out. The torn hooded cloak made him seem menacing despite his calm aura, seeming almost out of place. Placing truth to the rumor that it might be from another hunter of old. He knew despite it all, the man could draw the infamous gun on his hip faster than a word could come out of his mouth.

His ghost whirled in anger and the Hunter's ghost seemed to shrink back when Ghost spun the back shell armed with spikes in a threat as it bobbed in front of him. The angry sounds seemed to echo in the small clearing. With the Hunter Vanguard here and so close, they may not have a chance of escape. He was only glad his face was not showing his distress. He did not want to go back.

"And has bark to its bite. Impressive", the exo truly did sound like it as it patted its own ghost while chuckles. The exo's ghost seemed to sound angry back. Almost garbled and unused to the action, but refusing to be defeated.

 _Prideful little things you are._ He teased as he made a shifting from one leg to another to test the newcomer. He was not disappointed when the man shifted appropriately. Looks like being behind the desk was not a terrible thing to the man's instincts.

 _You are my guardian and I am your ghost. We represent each other. You are not weak thus nor am I._ Ghost argued firmly and he found himself agreeing after finding so many meek ghosts out there. This one seemed weak, but willing. Its guardian probably the reason.

 _Agreed._ He responded. _Shall we test time out, Ghost?_

He felt agreement resonate from his little one.

 _They won't hurt us, especially if the Hunter Vanguard took time to corner us by a human settlement we protect._

He jumped back and let loose and arrow all in one moment. He was impressed when the man simply shifted his weight to move avoid being hit without putting his hands down. He quickly reloaded and aimed. Keeping his target on the man's head, before moving it to the Ghost by Exo's head.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man warned only to get truly. "Hey. No." He reinstated firmly when he drew back more.

The exo stood in front of his own ghost with same raised hands.

"Okay, we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Cayde . . . of the Vanguard. Mentor for our class, you know Hunters" One of the commanding forces of the Tower stated.

With that he brought the bow and arrow to the floor but not out of its readied state. This man was very well known in the Guardian circles and deserved a benefit of a doubt. The City's Guardians tended to gossip quite a bit on patrol. A jokester leader with a heart of gold and a steady hand admired by all. No matter what he had said with his actions, the Mentor had not done anything threatening to him or seemed to be after capturing him.

"What do you want Hunter?" Ghost repeated. It kept moving to avoid being caught easily as well as being a distraction. Cayde-6 noticed this focused on his helmet and seemed to note where his Ghost was every other second. The man, didn't seem to wear a helmet of his own and seemed awfully calm.

 _Confidence or arrogance?_ He remarked as his Ghost agreed with his findings.

 _Arrogance_. His little light sniped immediately.

"We wanted to thank you." The representative of the City stated.

"You're welcome. We will take our leave", his little one state and with that they turned to leave. He felt his Ghost brush his hand.

"Wait, ugh. You really don't talk, do you? We, the Vanguard that is, we want you to join us. We have a place set up for you if you ever want it. The bounty for Riksis was high so we opened a vault and everything. If at any time you want anything, you can use that glimmer or you can ask Hawthorne. We won't tax you out. The little lady is awfully fond of you and gave us a piece of her mind when she came to get that bow", the Hunter rambled. He had never met another Exo that was so chatty, most were either monotoned or serious. The man must have some short form of attention span and quite the fighter on the field if the way rumors stated of his restlessness.

"Thank you. We will think on it." His little one replied. He turned and meaningfully looked at it. He was debating his next words carefully as it may bring down this small bridge the Vanguard was attempting to build between him.

The Exo sounding more confused at this.

"Why don't you join us? You're free. . . We can help you like you've helped us." The man was genuinely trying. Charisma floated off of the man unconsciously. The man did care about them if his emotions said anything. They were strong enough that his telepathy picked up one them. Maybe that was why he was a successful Vanguard leader, despite the silly dare Hunters had to participate in to become one. The last leader had chosen well and it made the small numbers of hunters on the field deadly and loyal to the Tower if not to Cayde-6 himself.

He nodded to his Ghost.

"Through our time in _their_ hands, we found out there is a traitor in your midst. One or many, we don't know." His Ghost revealed at his nod. "They made no way to hide this from us and spoke about it openly. We were not meant to survive to tell this to anyone. Someone has gone dark."

The Exo frowned and nodded to his own Ghost who disappeared into his armor.

"We will look into this. This might be why our battles have always been hit or miss lately." He grumbled with a hard sigh as he scratched his hood. The man seemed vibrant out here. A hunter was meant to be here in the wild not in a concrete box, but someone had to do the job or Hunters would create their own league and become a force similar to the Iron Lords of the past who were mostly Titans

"Vanguard General Cayde-6", his Ghost stated firmly. They had heard of this man praise by Hunters far and wide. The Handbook had helped them greatly over the last few months. "Under the Shipyard in the Cosmodrome. Warmind Rasputin has awoken. We will investigate, but it may be that the Hive is fighting the Fallen in some way. Some of what's left of the House of Devils seems to be at the core of the problem and they want Rasputin. Prepare your people, Cayde-6."

"Wait! Hive, on Earth!?" The Exo cried out and made a move to approach.

With that they summoned their sparrow and took off.

"It's just Cayde!" The man bellowed behind as they took off quickly to avoid being followed.

He maneuvered his sparrow around the roads and cliffs as well as trees. His little light felt no followers. He knew that now that the promise was made he had to follow through with it before they sent some poor inexperience guardians into its trenches. There was only so much they could spare when their major guardians were manning the skies and its city walls. It was hard insuring the small race of people left outside of the contamination of the Darkness. He didn't even know if the Reef was thriving either and he was afraid to know as his loyalty to the Queen was second to his duty as a Hunter and guardian.


	9. Interlude: The City

[I wanted to do a bonus chapter than had nothing to do with plot. Just some characterization. I had fun and hope you enjoy it.]

Being the last of their individual races did not mean that the bad ones died and only the good lived. Political mayhem, robbery, gangs, warmongering, and murder, along with other things, did happen within the Last City. Most times the factions handled it, but sometimes, hunters or warlocks were called in when it got out of hand. Titans were too much of a tank to do anything so delicate unless it was one of their own causing it. Luckily enough, most civilians never saw the face of a hunter as it meant someone had to be taken out. Most did not know that more than likely they were undercover and doing recon work. Many actually were scouts coming in and out of the City and happen to be spotted by a civilian. A good way for the people to mistake them as Ikora's Hidden as sometime they dressed as warlocks or titans to avoid trouble. Within the City, Hunters were treated like assassins and backstabbers anyways. Warlocks were treated like evil witches or sorcerers, especially the void users. Many did not understand as 'magic' and 'witchcraft' were frowned upon since nearly the beginning of time. While titans had a different kind of reputation, one that could be just as damaging to their psyche. They were heralded as all honorable and noble. Held to the highest standard. The pinnacle of perfection that left many overworking themselves or betraying the cause overall.

Being Awoken and dressed like a low-level guardian, it was fairly acceptable to be able to slip unnoticed into the City through the merchant entrance. It wasn't like he was Fallen or Cabal. That still did not mean he wanted to be here, sneaking into the City. It had taken him three hours of staring at the Traveler to find it in himself to go inside the walls. He was allowed in as the civilians could feel his light and there were no traitors within distance of the City that required identification to be checked.

He changed into a simple grey cloak with the most non-threatening helmet he owns. It was sleek and without harsh ridges. His shirt was of the same color with a chest bullet proof vest. Simple fatigue pants with a green camouflage color and one sidearm and one knife. He had a small sack on his shoulder. He felt unprotected and underdressed. He could barely feel the Traveler as he focused entirely on not turning around so suddenly. Civilians did not react well to fast movements. So few were born without threats in their lives and spoked like prey. He did not own any armor of Warlocks or Titans and making them from scratch would be too obvious.

It was for a good cause that he was coming in, Hawthorne had gotten sick and most of the farm was busy trying to make up the work as the families slowly came down with it too. Unfortunately, none of them were able to be spared to travel to the City. So, he did and for once doing a favor for them. They needed medicine made of herbs that did not grow in this area easily without expense. That was a good chunk of the drive to come here and acquire them. It didn't help his Ghost could not come out as he would be detected by Tower servers that monitored ghost and guardian positions this way.

The sun was coming low and the merchant area was emptying as it began to close for the night. The time with the least amount of people here meant that he had a large amount of space. There was little chance that someone would touch him by accident and set him off into throwing a knife. He walked in the medicinal area of the market and buried every single instinct to find a covered corner as all eyes turned to him. He still stuck to the walls and made note of all the exits as he reached his destination, following the mental map copy he had memorized from the old mechanic of the farm. Most jumped out his way and parents pulled away their children. He almost wanted to sigh in relief as it meant he would not be bumped into. His hands were beginning to shake.

 _So much for being discrete._ His Ghost grumbled in their link to distract him. _This is something I noticed of the City._ _These people don't see us enough to be comfortable with us. Even the Awoken and Exo of the city avoid us._

 _A result from Osiris' betrayal of the city and the guardians pulling from City interactions._ He stated grateful for the diversion of conversation as his hands calmed and he let out the breath he did not he was holding. _The divide is so that something like that doesn't happen anymore. The factions, at least to me, hold too much power over the civilians._

Children ran around the streets in colorful outfits and their caretakers wore the muted colors with the occasional weapons. He agreed with that concept of being armed. This world was a threat in itself and every being should not just depend on guardians to protect and keep their dwindling numbers alive. Not like before where their number was enough to defend the people. Now, they could barely keep their head above the waters.

Banners and civilian clothing strung a top them covered the sun from coming down on them as shadows fell the City. It also meant he could barely feel the Traveler despite feeling its light saturating the floor. Being so high in the mountains, the sun was a harsh mistress. He knew this well after so many sunburns on his normally resilient skin. He found the large red cross on a white flag that dangled sideways off a wall covered in vines with small purple flowers. The entrance was thick purple curtain edged in gold instead of any door. It felt familiar to him.

He let the Traveler's light cover his sense and dull out the rest of the world. He moved the consequential royal purple curtain aside to come inside. He remembered now. An Awoken lived here and still served the queen if the golden symbol logo on the products had anything to say. It was the only thing that kept him from running back out. It was too tiny and cramped enough to raise the hairs on his neck.

"Guardian Hunter. What brings you here?" The old lady snapped. Same attitude that he had been warned about from the Farm radiated in waves from the woman. She was Awoken with a grey tone to her skin and slightly dull, misty auburn eyes. Her black hair was streaked heavily with white. All in one severe bun. Her clothing suspiciously baggy. He knew she hid weapons as well.

 _You are a warrior race after all._ His little backseat driver commented. The little light was soothing him as he almost went for a knife when he registered the need to attack someone so close. The woman had no qualms about getting close to him.

He didn't bother having his Ghost come out. He simple handed over the quickly snatched note.

"Hmph. I tell them to join us here behind the walls. Stubborn humans them!" She snapped at him. He could feel her reaching out to his mind and he delicately shift her away. She was surprisingly telepathically powerful for her age and civilian status. Then again she was the first he had contacted away from the field. She was probably in her late 60's when the birth of their race happened if she looked to barely be hitting 80's now.

He was surprised when she cackled.

"I told Hawthorne that I guessed you were Awoken!" She grinned with a vicious show of teeth. "She came in once having your 'protection' all over her. We are quite a prideful people, aren't we?" She spoke of his mental pheromones that all races gave off much like animals do physically.

They could register it and control it at the same level some animals would do smells. Most times they saturated anything they owned or were around constantly, like family and friends. It's what made a lot of humans unconsciously weary of them as some could 'feel' these markers. To a smaller degree, Exo beings could tell when another had been there. Some could feel emotions as well as they could. Most Exo did not know how they could, but the Awoken did. Some Exo bodies survived being caught between light and dark like they had.

He nodded once at her. He was glad he did not need to explain everything if Hawthorne had spoken to her about him.

 _For once, I am glad Hawthorne is too honest a person._ Ghost remarked.

"I won't tell the Tower, factions, or Vanguard about this. Now here you go." She gave two large gallon tins of cold medicine. It looked like the farm would be drinking tea for a while. He in return emptied the ransack full of fruits, and glimmer to place the tins inside. It left his hands free for when he changed into his proper armor and weapons. The enemy was becoming bolder lately. Risk were not something to take lightly anymore.

She took them and waved him away. Almost sprinting, he exited and leaped up into a balcony and further onto the roof. He heard children giggle with his departure and felt a small relief at the large step he had taken today. He went down by the now dry canal where no one went due to the slug and mud from the Winter run off. He followed it to one of the only large gates in the wall meant for caravans and vehicles.

He felt good knowing people still serve the Queen or at the very least, the royal family. But even knowing that and having a connection to that here, he knew would not be returning to Reef anytime soon.


	10. Chapter Eight: Rasputin

A warmind of all warminds. Rumor has it that there was more than one created at the pinnacle of the Golden Age Era. Rasputin was now connected to all the servers to prevent it from falling into enemy hands and to gain what they thought would be an ally. A decision he knew may have been the wrong one. He did not know at the time that Rasputin was known as the Tyrant for a reason. The very AI that pulled from the Collapse and hid for a time via Midnight Exigent. A shut down into a dormant state.

It seemed the Fallen and Hive wanted this Warmind. The AI being was now integrated once again into the Universe to protect humanity on its own terms. Whether it would do that or destroy Humanity or the Traveler, they would never know, and it was too late to change his decision. He was so overwhelmed by this discovery of information and sore beyond belief after this particular self-decided mission to save the first Warmind. He had taken all kinds of wounds and two rather nasty revives. One from being skewered by a sneaking Vandal and one by being clawed by a Hive thrall. His little ghost still seemed to suffer flashbacks of its own and had become catatonic by his neck after a close call of being almost overwhelmed by enemies before he could gather light for a super. They didn't have the time or resources to see if they were healing or getting worse when they were interrupted.

He was wiping his pocket blade as a fireteam had come across him standing there around corpses of the Hive. He put away his bladed weapon.

"Good Traveler. They are here. The Hive." The leading Titan whispered and turned to look upon his figure as he put on the newly obtained arm guards on. A rather nice drop in his opinion.

They were of higher level than he had and it made him very tempted to try them out. They matched his entire silver and black color scheme despite the foreign matter dripping from his cloak. He would have to clean it and patch it when possible. He had a fondness for matching things.

 _Vanity_ , his Ghost whispered telepathically from his collar as if it was a giant conspiracy. A running joke between them.

"Guardian of Guardians." The large man acknowledged with a nod.

The Titan did not see the flinch at the name under his helmet. He simply nodded back to the man as he turned to leave. He had left the data banks open for the City.

Ghost popped out of his collar at last to speak on their behalf. "You will find all the information there. There was no other choice, Titan, but to release Warmind Rasputin. He has the potential to be a valuable ally in the future more than it was worth to let the AI fall into enemy hands." His little light promptly disappeared into his armor.

"Sir!" One of the younger guardians yelled out to him before he could leave.

He looked on as the young one approached. His experience in knowing his old life made him feel so much older as the younger guardian seemed to ooze youth. A result of constant meditation and retreating into his mind, according to his Ghost at least. It allowed him to discover what once would have been hidden. Its not like he knew if what he remembered were multiple lives or one long adventurous one.

Something seemed familiar about the approaching cloaked figure. This was the one he had saved so long ago after the walker incident. He could see the ghost of the other warlock float around his own Ghost, who popped out slightly, in interest. They communicated in their own way he supposed. He refocused on the Warlock.

"I had volunteered, hoping to see you, Guardian. To thank you. Please take this!" The man begged as he held out a small key with a note.

It was thrust suddenly into his space that he felt compelled. He took it, carefully, touching another being for the first time other than Ghost in so many months, maybe years. He could not deny the man a gratitude that he would have given as well. He quickly stepped back though. Having a trauma related flashback here would leave him vulnerable to being taken again. This fireteam could leave him here for all he knew, vulnerable to the inevitable Hive or Fallen reinforcements. This fireteam could also drag him somewhere he did want to go.

"The coordinates there. I have a new Kestrel Class EX that I don't use as I have another ship I just found. I saw your old ship out there long ago and it's the same one you have out there now. This one may be more of a help to you. Smaller, but spacious and faster than that bucket of bolts you have now." The young one stated. Insulting yet charming.

He wanted to huff in humor, but he did not know if it would come across properly. If only his memories had showed him how to interact with others outside of a fight. Instead, he took it and nodded. He could tell the young man was not a traitor, too innocent. The fear was true that day after the walker. No one can fake emotions like that.

"Thank you." His Ghost stated from his armor and he nodded in agreement again. He then had his Ghost materialize one of his not well used weapons. One that he had modified and had served him well before he became too powerful for it. It was higher than this man's level, but it was good thing to acquire as the guardian would hopefully grow into it and with time beyond it.

"I couldn't," The other guardian gasped. This one that had potential to be an influence to grow beyond the cookie cutter warlock guardians the Tower produced.

He simply dropped the weapon in the air. Forcing the man to catch, much like his silly Ghost does all the time.

 _Bully._ His Ghost teased as it floated in their bond content with a day's work.

They ignored the calls of the entire fireteam as they walked away. A common action he found himself doing to avoid people. He blamed his Ghost for his sense of dramatics.

 _Why him?_

He looked at the spot his little one likely hid and smiled before tapping the area with a teasing bop of an index finger. He stared in the direction of where that battle happened. He could not imagine having left the young man into the hands of Fallen in this area. They were farther from honor than any other of their race. He deemed the place safe enough to head into orbit. He knew his Little One had moved the ship around as hey had made their way through rusted vehicles and withered buildings. Even the grass seemed tinted with rust as it grew around technology that was once used in the pinnacle of humanity.

 _He grew from that experience. He is levels above his fireteam. Halfway to being as big a threat as the Titan. His fireteam will soon become too weak. The young man has too much will to be held back. The team will either catch up or he will find another team worthy of him_. He answered as he cracked his neck when they landed inside his ship. They would wander over to the coordinates, making sure it wasn't a trap before taking the gift. He would not say no to something so expensive when getting a hold of anything from the City required having Hawthorne go in or himself going in. After the farm got sick and he had to go in, he knew his nerves couldn't do it.

His newly created cloak now had his insignia on it. He hadn't worn it yet, but he caressed it as he made his way to the cockpit. The Eliksni logographic for the word freedom, 'Fre', atop a minimalist falcon inside a diamond were painted on the top right shoulder. A falcon in tribute to his first friend, freedom as a form of revenge for his imprisonment, and diamond for his companion. The only things he had known in this life. His old life to scrambled to piece together. He had painted it on himself by tracing the projected image his Ghost made it. The little platform of light complained how it was an advance fighting partner and not a school projector.

He now hung it with pride in its designated spot in his current ship. He would wear it when he felt he could keep it safe.

He had learned a good chunk Eliksni these past few weeks. He remembers when he heard of the song of the Eliksni Kell of Stone, Chelchis, for the first time in that dark room. The honorable extraterrestrial had fought in the Traveler's name when the sphere had fled the approaching dark. The noble Kell fell under the might of the dark, giving time for his people to flee. The Traveler was no fighter and the Eliksni knew that, now the Fallen seek it. Thinking it would be the answer to their fall from grace. He figured that it was history that the Tower and its leaders did not know about the closest enemy to the City other than betrayals. He had taken a large time to learn how to read and write the language. His Ghost's databanks did wonders. His Ghost too like to 'pack' everything it could. The pack rats that they had become.

In the end, war was coming from this former honorable race and he wanted them to fear him. Communicating their words and cultural actions would do a lot more damage than human or awoken ways.

One step at a time. One war at a time.


	11. Chapter Nine: Summons

He was approaching the farm. He knew that they were expecting him from the way the falcon flew in the. Circling as if guiding him. He opened the old gate by the soccer field of the most recent project of Hawthorne's. She wanted to call it The Farm. A place of center for all the groups outside of the City.

He came across their barn where they serviced the ship. It was rare that he made as he only stayed by his tree a few kilometers east and near the permanent camp of the villagers.

"GG." One old mechanic of ancient Asian decent nodded with a slight bow before returning to the innards of an engine of sorts. They knew better to expect an answer from them when Hawthorne was not around, the stoic guardian and selectively mute ghost.

He knew that most of the people here were prideful of their origins and were a mix of ancient traditions. In fact many left the City because the Factions forced them out or certain sectors of the City Consensus could not support their views. They noted that there was a divide between Humanity and its Guardians.

"Guardian." Hawthorne's voice echoed in the barn. She carried a rather large bag of familiar fruit. She was sweetening him.

He hummed slowly at her and she smiled gleefully at his response. It was harvest time and he had a love of persimmons. He could only get them here. Not that he needed an excuse to visit. The people welcomed him here despite his antisocial behavior and children were the first to touch him.

He made a serious effort to change after he flinched his hand away harshly when one small child had grabbed his hand. He had scared the little boy badly enough to make him run away. Things were smooth over now, but that fear of causing fear made him come out a bit more. He always wore his helmet for one, except with Hawthorne, who knew his face from his snow accident. He feared that being non-human would scare them, humans. Both Hawthorne and Ghost laughed at him. He grumbled when even the falcon Louis even barked its croak at him. He too was allowed to be insecure.

Hawthorne had mocked him constantly. Especially after the time he was so scared to hurt the little bodies that he allowed them to pull him to the floor and climb all over him. Even more so as his armor had enough places for hands and feet to climb. They were the only ones to do so. One child, to this day, boast to have been victorious in scaling him.

As for anyone else outside the farm, he shied away. His heart didn't beat faster and blood did not pump. Being so close made him aware of weak spots and he found himself even developing unconscious plans on how to take them down swiftly. He was doubting himself more and more as he recognized signs of his paranoia. His Ghost always was there to bring him back.

"Hawthorne. Nice to see you" His little light chirped as it went around her in its black shell. She chuckled lowly and bobbed its top panel with her finger. It whirred in its form of giggles before coming back to his side.

"Little menace." She greeted back and his little guy seemed to preen at the name.

They stood silent in each other's presence briefly before walking to stand before the front of the serviced ship.

"The Vanguard, they want to meet, Guardian." She stated as she pets her Falcon, Louis, who turned his head to gaze out at them when he landed on his perch on her arm. "Something is going down."

"Glad they learned to not send that Hunter." The electronic voiced of his companion huffed. Twirling itself in agitation, the little bot scanned and highlighted areas to be fixed for the poor elder mechanic who bowed at it in thanks.

"Still slightly bitter about that, Guardian and Ghost." She informed them. She had been followed and did not appreciate it one bit. She had cut communication with the Tower for a solid week and did not send in her usual supplies of trade. They sent her a shiny rifle to apologize, personally from the Vanguard Hunter, which she took a shining to.

He turned his head to side in question and Ghost asked.

"So, what are they wanting from us, oh grand messenger."

"I missed times when you weren't so cheeky." She grumbled with an exaggerated sigh before her eyes sharpened. "They have a 'hive' situation on the Moon, or whatever they mean by that, and they trust no one else after some issues. From what my informants tell me the spying situation has grown severe apparently and there has been some connection to some Thorn or something. You are the only one powerful enough to combat this that they can spare and trust." She patted the belly of Louis.

 _So, we are being summoned of sorts?_ He asked and Ghost repeated.

"I don't know why you guardians are so fool hearted. Anyone else I would tell them to run, but I know you won't." She sighed as she watched him crack his shoulders and neck.

"No. As Guardian and Ghost, we have a responsibility," his little one replied. "We knew it would come to this. We cannot run around the Traveler for the rest of our lives. Many can, but we can't."

She nodded.

"As I stated, fools." She pushed her arm up and her falcon cried out its song as it left itself up. She then crossed her arms.

"We will leave. We are as ready as we ever will be. I sent you a message with coordinates. That is where you will find our supplies in case we don't return. Open it when confirmed or if it has been four months with no communication. Otherwise delete." The ghost by his side informed her as they gazed at her softly.

"Fools", she chuckled before rubbing her eyes. They were wet when she looked up and he held out his arm. He understood. They had been friends for over a year now. She quickly grasped it and shook hard once. "Please return safely. Devrim and Marc still want to meet you." She seemed to hesitate before stating softly words that he knew would stick with him. "Be Brave. May the Traveler be with you."

"And also, with you, Hawthorne." Ghost said as he nodded at her.

They disappeared out of the air. It was emergency enough to warrant avoiding the 30-minute walk to summon their sparrow or be beamed up. War of another kind was here. He just feared it would be another front in a war where their weren't as many guardians anymore.


	12. Chapter Ten: Meet and Greet

Sorry about the long wait my beauties. I moved jobs and I have been in funk before that. Good news is that I may be getting married later this year. It's a weird situation due to him being from overseas, but it's something to look forward to. I am refocusing on this story as it is something I am so excited for. Especially given the recent convoluted events in Season 4-5 and upcoming Season 6.

The reason it takes so long is that in between chapters I lose the tone and flow. Then I have to re-read everything and get into 'character' per say. As well as research and re-watching scenes. Its combo of things.

* * *

"This is the Control Tower of the Last City. You are in restricted airspace. We demand to know who you are if you can hear or understand us." The male voice demanded. His Ghost made noises of annoyance.

 _So rude,_ the little one sighed as it whipped around their cabin space. He looked at it fondly. He was proud of his partner's ways of breaking what would be normal social standards.

 _Can't blame them_. He returned with a shrug. _I hardly trust anyone too_ _._

 _We. . . well we have a reason to Guardian. Remember that we have evidence they want us back._ His little Light reminded and he flinched in response. "This is KC EX-723. We were invited by the Vanguard." His little one stated in clear tone with the usual vocal ques of a Ghost. Endearing to him after so long. He could not imagine the little AI without them.

The reply was swift.

"KC EX-723 is not in our records as a guardian owned vessel. Nor your of your expected arrival. We have system locked to shoot you down. Remain where you are until we decide our next course of action", before static met their ears.

 _Systems?_ He asked his companion as he brought his ship to a hard stop 7 or so miles from the walls. A large crank was heard in the air as sections of the wall fell away. After having kept an eye on the place and snuck in once or twice, he did not expect that. He raised an eyebrow and was impressed.

 _Yes, their anti-aircraft weapons._ In that moment large cannons turned their way. The smaller ones seemed to remain staring in the distance, just in case.

"We are known by the moniker Guardian of Guardians." The Ghost sighed. _Silly names they come up with I tell you, Guardian._

A good chunk of time passed before they heard another word from the being over the line. A slightly more informal tone floated through their speakers. A feminine voice with an odd and old accent.

"Sorry. Your identity has been identified. Please head over to hanger bay via the instructions we are sending. We will direct you to land and lead you to the Vanguard." The woman seemed genuinely sorry about the mess up, but it seemed that the Vanguard wanted to keep this meeting private.

 _I have a feeling they know more about us than we expect._ His Ghost reasoned. _The Fallen do keep records of things as well. The good and bad. Knowing the Hunter Vanguard and Warlock Vanguard, the hoard for knowledge is grand among them._

They were sent a flight plan that he followed as his little light buzzed around the cabin in anxiety, double checking everything just in case and uploading a good weapon layout for close, far, and mid-range battle. They both basked in the shadow of the Traveler as they went around its perimeter and took in the sights of city buildings that they had not been able to see up close, but knew the vague shape from afar. This was the last place human beings could hide, behind this wall. The rest of the universe was taken by the Darkness. Despite their wins, they were very much not a match for the threat looming. Regardless of what the Queen was thinking lately.

The landing was no problem as he was beamed into the middle of the courtyard where all the guardians gathered. Luckily, a frame was there to escort them.

 _Welcome to the Last City. The last place the Traveler can protect. Everything else is falling apart and our victories grow smaller in number, especially with this spy._ His Ghost reminded as they gazed together at the protector in the sky. _We're counting every day it stands after so many centuries. We are the last thing standing between the fall of the light and conquering of the dark. The defenders of the last Traveler and the last of Humanity_. His Ghost seemed to take this as a personal challenge and he did too.

He had seen what could happen to prisoners. He could withstand it after so many years in military services of all kinds from Human military to Awoken militia, but helpless civilians? Or children? No that was something he would not stand for.

As he walked past the vault towers he remembered Hawthorne mentioning once and the post office area that was crowded. The place was calm and full of Guardians leaping and running around. Everyone had a place whether it was going or stand or oddly enough, dancing. He took a second, admired the serenity of the place. How every guardian stride with confidence around the place. He hid his smile in his helmet where he huffed lightly at the gawking guardians and those that seemed to trade gestures at each other. He was reminded of a memory of the Reef, where the smell of oil and distinct purple tint clouded his eyes before Ghost whizzed by just enough to catch his attention from wandering.

He had forgotten that he was carrying dried kills on his belt from his hunt much like Hawthorne did. Three gutted rabbits, his preening pure black Ghost with his blue eye and dangerous sharply shell, his own top fur cloak, and insignia on his cloak made quite the sight. He too was allowed to be vain.

 _I guess we are more popular than we thought._ Ghost mock whispered down their link with humor emotions float along with it. He sent his own agreement back as one poor Hunter tripped backwards when they took notice of who they were walking in front of. The gunslinger saluted and backed off when his Ghost went to approach. If he could, he would have laughed hard, but he didn't want to sound demented. He hadn't laughed loudly enough to see how it sounds or remember how to.

 _I bet it'll sound lovely, Guardian_. His little eye in the sky reassured as it went past the Vanguard emblem and ahead down the stairs.

There stood Titan Lord Shaxx, living legend from when he defended Twilight Gap and prevent the domino effect from happening to the walls of the City in the last war. He led the battle to re-secure a vital hole in their defenses despite orders to retreat. He prevented the battle from being the turning point of being a tragedy of humanity with a gamble based off limited information. He and few guardians stood their ground and held the wall from collapsing from the flood of Fallen. A hero if he knew of any. He got past with a lingering glance from him and his quartermaster. They both moved their bodies to keep his sight on them like any trained warrior would. He nodded back when the helmeted man chuckled and nodded at him in greeting. The man's ghost floating behind the giant helmet and twirled its back in greeting. He heard his Ghost do the same back. Behind him, as he made his way through the hall, he could hear the man's voice boom and creat a distraction as most flinched from the man's 'indoor' voice, "The Crucible needs you. Go in and earn your honor!"

They entered the area into a command room with a large conference table below. The whole room was busy and had people flying in and out without looking at him. Many lept onto the table where the Vanguard simply moved items left and right to avoid incidents. Most ignored him except for a few Hunters, who had a funny attitude overall as they climbed atop the table and radiated around Vanguard Cayde-6 like planets. Titans seemed to crouch in respect to Commander Zavala while Warlocks stood in a semi neat line.

He brought his eyes onto the former human first and focused on the man. The Exo wore the same dark clothing and tattered hood with red markings. His boots were more noticeable in this lighting. Dark red cloth that had seen better days and gold-yellow scarred plating, colorful like the man is, but muted and constrained. The man had subtle gambling references on his clothing and the famous hand cannon at his side.

Across from him stood the famous Warlock Ikora Rey, former apprentice of the infamous banished Osiris. She was garbed in purple robe with silver metal plating that gave her face a fierce distinction with sharp cheeks and minimal hair. She wore makeup in a way that seemed to be almost like warpaint. The woman of all rules and full of knowledge if the ever present datapad had anything to say. It was reflecting slight light over a medallion that seemed polished and well loved. It was of similar design of her scarlet obi belt. The woman stood confident in spoke to the room. She was the one that took one look at them and spoke.

"Out."

With one fierce word, the room cleared. His Ghost grumbled with jealousy as its voice didn't seem able to reflect that same emotion. She made an effortless one step turn to completely face him at the end of the table nearest to the entrance and only exit. She narrowed her eyes at his helmet.

He wanted to remain unknown as it would allow him to be able to sneak in without using too much effort.

He looked back shamelessly, ignoring that unspoken request, before gazing on the last powerful figure. This man carried the City and looked like it. The Atlas of the Last City.

He was of the same tribe of awoken with the indigo skin on his head healthy and strong. It went well with the silver metal armor atop a contrasting red. His double headed eagle emblem was carried by many who respected him, but no one flew it like his shoulder pad did. His badges told that same story with minor scuffing among them. Heavy booted, he didn't doubt that this man would not move from his spot without tremendous force. Yet. The man had soft side with regular lessons about knitting and crocheting that was popular among his mentees. His face had faded clan marks that were hidden under the shadows of his sunken eyes and frowning eyebrows. The man's presence and territorial command placed any 'marked' territory of others to shame. Those eyes were earned with wisdom and experience seemed to find his directly.

"Hunter." The Awoken's voice was deep and seemed to have its own melody.

He let his telepathic abilities unwind. Enough to still hide his race, but enough to feel the area. The man's 'mental scent' saturated the place. It was distinct and had an almost spicy taste than what he remembered Awoken to feel like. Commander Zavala was alpha here, though. For one who seems to deny being anything but a guardian, the man sure marked his place here like some Awoken commander. Which was a hard feat as many males in the Awoken species were looked down due to their gender in a matriarchal society. He was tempted to take his helmet off to challenge the man just to see if it was a conscious action or not, but now was not the time with this emergency that he had been called into. He can test the Commander another time.

 _Looks like a 'crush' to me._ The Ghost teased as it rested on his right shoulder quietly.

 _Curiosity is not a bad thing, little light._ He replied back immediately. He had not been in the fresh presence of another Awoken since his first death. All of them being non-male and at a distance.

 _Other than that one healer from the City. She was quite the telepathic force._ His Ghost remembered. He was impressed as he figured that Ghost had been more overwhelmed than him at the time.

"Titan." His Ghost responded as it twittered about like a firefly. Rotating his shell in slightly show off manner. The other ghosts took notice as they turned its way and he could feel his little shoulder demon feel satisfaction at the acknowledgement.

"See I said this one doesn't speak!" The Hunter barked in good nature as it prevents his ghost from moving towards his Ghost with an index finger. The other ghost had a newer shell with more noticeable offensive traits than the last. One with spikes of its own. Not as adventurous or sharp. It seemed to be more outspoken if the little metallic huff it gave its partner said anything about it.

Influence he was indeed.

"We want to thank you for your work on the field, Hunter." The purple robed Vanguard stated before raising her eyes at the Hunter in their midst. She had put down her electronic pad and crossed her arms. The woman could probably break his face with her biceps if the rumors from Hawthorne were true. She was once a participant of the Crucible and had set a standard most do not meet. Apparently Titan Lord Shaxx still admires to this day.

Despite the clear difference from him and them, the Vanguard seemed to claim him as part of 'their' side. They seemed to forget that he never declared it. That and he was more of a rogue than a proper guardian, like any good Hunter should be. As if able to read him, Vanguard Ikora raised an eyebrow.

 _So that eyebrow is a Warlock thing too. Maybe your half Warlock._ He heard and he ignored as his Ghost snickered at him.

"Your welcome. Tell us about the situation on the moon", his little one stated and he nodded. His partner focused on the map they were gazing at. The moon bases were displayed and camps of the different species were indicated. Curiously it seems the Queen kept one small three man squad on the moon. She was always one to want to know everything. A dangerous thing, but useful.

"We had a scout stop communicating a little past the base of the House of Exiles, the Hive seems to planning something according to the last report." Zavala spoke instead when he noticed that we didn't react to Ikora's stern manner. "We need someone to look into this, but we don't know who to trust and we have our hands tied trying to bring down the Prime Servitor of the House of Devils. I don't want to send someone untrustworthy nor endanger anyone who doesn't know the full truth."

 _House-less Fallen rebels that we encountered our first time there on the moon._ His Ghost needlessly reminded him. _They seem to be endless as more and more House are starting to enforce rules harsher than before._ The Tower wasn't helping as they kept taking down more Houses and new more ruthless leaders rose to replace. Those would splinter and grow into more factions. Now instead of facing one forces, there are over half a dozen different threats of different kinds. The Reef did this too as they had this us vs them, instead of us, allies, partners, enemy of the enemy vs the threat. Both the Tower and the Reef suffered from this Black and White Outlook.

"What he means is that the creepy crawlies were never on Earth before, that we know of. They wouldn't be here unless they planned something. We hope that by going to the source, it'll let us to see what their plan is." Cayde-6 paraphrased. The Exo eyed his Ghost with suspicion before allowing his own to approach.

Ghost allowed the other to twirl around it before dodging around and going up to Zavala. The others looked at it, his little one, in curiosity as he crossed his arms at their expressions from across the table of the Leader of the Guardians. Only to indicate to his Ghost with a lazy hand wave when they turned stared at him. They seemed to have an aversion of addressing ghosts? Especially bonded ghosts.

 _Traditions of old. Began with the Risen, than the Titans considered it rude, and grew to this ignore the ghost thing._ His partner explained again. _Some consider it interrupting the Traveler's work to talk to their Ghost. Many are abused as well._

The little light gave out a static hum to itself. "We will do this. In return, I want access to the database and satellites without being tracked. We have a few leads on the 'ear in the walls'."

He nodded when they all looked to him to reaffirm. He may be a good fighter, but there was much more out there. His Ghost could only hold so much information and from that he could only teach so much to him. This resource was vital.

"Agreed, Ghost." Commander Zavala reasoned and stared directly at Ghost. The man's ghost was regal in manner and simply tilted its body to stare at it before seeming to allow Ghost's presence with a twist of its well-maintained shell.

 _I like this one_. His partner said as it twirled around the blue head and its stoic ghost.

 _Of course, you do, my companion._ He teased. _Everyone loves Curiosity._

 _What you feel is not just Curiosity._ The Ghost said as it faded out and appeared near his head, alarming the Vanguard briefly. _It's interest. Then again, it's not like you have seen other Awoken guardian up close and on their property. I remember you telling me that the Reef and Dreaming City were like this._

 _It might have all changed. Awoken are aging now that they left the Distributary and that may cause customs to change_ , was all he responded with before focusing on the task at hand.

"Me and my Guardian will depart immediately." Ghost said as it floated to his side.

He nodded in agreement as he adjusted his hood over his helmet..

"Your guardian has no name?" Warlock Ikora asked carefully. She had her hands behind her back after his companion's announcement. Warlocks loved puzzles and he knew he was proving to be one.

"He doesn't need one. Nor do I." Ghost said back in mystery. They didn't do things by halves in this duo of theirs. He knew that this façade of coldness kept him from being a part of the people. It was a safety net until he could clean the spiders from the webs.

"And that's why we give you long fancy title names. To make up for the lack of it." The blue Exo remarked. "We will find you one. Maybe call you after, I don't know, a frame or vacuum or something!" The man spread his arms wide.

"We do our job to protect the Traveler and pay back our debt for him allowing us to have another chance at life. To do this, this city must not fall and its people must live. That is our purpose after all", Ghost remarked as its black shell seemed to gleam. "When you're on your own for so long. A name does not matter anyways." He also reasoned for Cayde-6's sake. The man perked up at the last comment.

"That will keep me busy for a while, finding you a name." The man approached him, but kept his distance with arms out motioning. The man kept his arms in sight. Hunters had quite the instinct when it came to danger. "How does Beta-5 and his trusty sidekick Charley sound?"

"No." Ghost said the moment he shook his head beside it.

 _So much for instinct_. He told his Ghost.

"To the name or sidekick?" The Hunter continued.

He turned and left the Vanguard. He allowed his powers to 'taste' the room once again. Zavala was proving to be quite the puzzle himself. The first Awoken guardian to hold his attention without trying.

 _Zavala and Guardian kissing in a tree- Hey!_ His little light whispered mentally only to have him flick with a mental touch. His Ghost had no shame some days, but he would take this humor over the calm silence of before. I habit the little one picked up from cocky guardians. Mostly Gunslinger Hunters. Being this close to the Light made the little bot perky.

 _No more out of you, little Light._ He jokingly rebuked. They went down the hall and up the stairs without looking at the Hive infested woman.

 _I will get rid of that name. I am not little, not anymore._ His Light reasoned.

 _You're the size of my hand. Little. Light._ He argued firmly as he laid his eyes on the Traveler. The protector had a large chunk missing from the bottom. Ghost reassured that it would be getting smaller as it healed or awoke.

 _Size means nothing._ Ghost said as they went to orbit.


End file.
